REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR » 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



them with a stick and winnowing until most of the chaff is got rid of and the grain 

 made clean enough for sowing. Where the farmer is to use this seed for his own sow- 

 ing it is not necessary that the sample be absolutely free from chaff, it is, however, 

 most essential that the grain be kept free from all admixture with other sorts. 



Farmers are expected to harvest the product of their experimental plot separately 

 and store it away carefully^ threshing the product by hand, either with a flail or in 

 such other manner as they may prefer. Cutting off the heads and placing them in 

 saclvs may be a convenient method of harvesting in some cases; the results to be 

 gained will abundantly repay the careful handling of this first crop. 



It is surprising how rapid has been the growth of the demand for these samples 

 for seed. The number sent out for the first year was 1,149, the second year it was 

 2,150, and the third year 2,760. By this time the work of the farms had become 

 more generally known and appreciated. A larger number of farmers were made 

 aware of the advantages awaiting them in these pure varieties of improved seed, 

 and in 1890, the fourth year of the existence of the farms, 15,532 applicants were 

 furnished with desired samples of seed. From this time onward the growth was 

 constant, and in 1895 the number reached was 30,553. For the past 10 years the 

 average annual output has been 38,280 sainple bags requiring from 75 to 80 tons of 

 choice seed annually. During the spring of 1905, more than 42,000 farmers worked in 

 this co-operative test, and during the past season the number has increased to over 

 45,000. No such gigantic and practical co-operative work for the improvement of the 

 more important farm crops has ever been attempted before. Canadian farmers every- 

 where have gladly joined in this important work, and the benefit to Canadian agri- 

 culture has been enormous. In almost every part of the Dominion the results of this 

 work are manifest. 



For four years (from 1899 to 1902 inclusive) the experiment was tried of sending 

 tp a select list of farmers, a few in each agricultural constituency in the Dominion, 

 a double quantity of seed so that each might have enough for the sowing of one-tenth 

 of an acre. During this period more than 12,500 such samples were sent out; but it 

 was found impracticable to continue to send these larger samples to all who applied 

 for them, and as some dissatisfaction was felt among those who were unable to obtain 

 the larger quantities it was thought best to discontinue this special privilege and 

 henceforward to treat all applicants alike. Furthermore, every season after the regu- 

 lar distribution of 4 and 5-lb. samples has been provided for, the surplus grain not 

 required for seed at the North-western experimental farms, is sold to farmers for seed 

 purposes in quantities of from 2 to 10 bushels to each. In this way during the past 

 two years, 245 farmers have been supplied with these larger lots of grain from the 

 branch experimental farm at Indian Head, and 211 from the branch experimental 

 farm at Brandon, or 45G in all. Where these larger quantities of grain are supplied, 

 they are sold to the farmers at a small ndvance on the ordinary price of grain at the 

 time so as to cover cost of extra cleaning. The increase observed of late in the yearly 

 average of cereal crops in Canada, which is quite considerable, is no doubt due in 

 large measure to the more general cultivation of highly productive varieties brought 

 about by these annual distributions. 



NEED OF EARLY RIPENING VARIETIES OF GRAIN. 



The season for growth of crops in Canada is short, hence from the outset the im- 

 portance of securing early ripening varieties of cereals of high quality and productive- 

 ness for test in Canada was fully recognized, and inquiries were promptly made in 

 other countries for such material. The first importation made by the experimental 

 farms — within a few months of their organization — was of an early maturing wheat, 

 claimed to be one of the earliest and best sorts grown in Northern Russia. Of this 

 wheat known as Ladoga, 100 bushels were imported in the spring of 1887, when 667 

 samples were sent out for trial to leading farmers in Manitoba, the Northwest Terri- 

 tories and other parts of the Dominion. Other varieties of seed wheat were also obtain- 



